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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25172500">Reliable Tsuna</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatUCWatIC/pseuds/WatUCWatIC'>WatUCWatIC</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Katekyou Hitman Reborn!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon attempt, First Chapters, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Suicide Attempt, Takeshi's POV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:15:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,833</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25172500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatUCWatIC/pseuds/WatUCWatIC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe Takeshi feels a little indebted to him, but he doubts he'll ever regret calling Tsuna his friend. (He's right)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Takeshi &amp; Kyoko, Takeshi &amp; Tsuna, Yamamoto Takeshi &amp; Yamamoto Tsuyoshi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reliable Tsuna</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There used to be a long AN here. Psht, you don't need it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>
  <b>Baseball is Life (the rest is just details)</b>
</h2><p>There are three people in Takeshi Yamamoto's class whose names travel far and wide through the school. His being one of them. </p><p>Baseball MVP and an easy going guy, Takeshi doesn't need to make friends. Friendly people naturally revolve around him. It's a good thing that sort of thing comes effortlessly, because he wouldn't have wasted any time with becoming amicable anyway. He was too busy training for baseball to care about his grades as it was.</p><p>Takeshi was only good at breaking the ice and playing ball, but it was something people relied on him for! </p><p>Kyoko Sasagawa, the school's idol. A cute girl, considered to be an angel in disguise. Takeshi hadn't been given evidence to contradict this statement, so he doesn't think he'll dispute it. A friendly person herself, Takeshi has shared a fair number of words with her.</p><p>Tsunayoshi Sawada. Better known as dame-Tsuna, Takeshi's total opposite. Of course, he wouldn't say it to dame-Tsuna's face, mostly because there's no bad blood between them and Takeshi never planned to speak to him anyway. </p><p>As the name implied, dame-Tsuna was useless, a loser, absolutely <em> no good </em>. Bad at academics, bad at sports, and a bit of a downer to be around. Not because he was especially moody, but because his reputation preceded him so thoroughly.</p><p>Then dame-Tsuna came to school naked one day. Nearly naked, he had boxers. He played a tasteless prank on Kyoko, and while Kyoko seemed to think it was funny in retrospect, the school was now calling dame-Tsuna a freak.</p><p><em> Word travels fast, </em> Takeshi thought, letting himself be hurried along to watch Mochida beat dame-Tsuna in a kendo match. Takeshi didn't think Tsuna would show, but he was enjoying the crowd's liviliness.</p><p>By the time he reached the dojo, Mochida was celebrating his victory. Takeshi looked to the floor for a loser, but it was empty. Luckily, the crowd was full of chatter.</p><p>"He played the toilet card again, dame-Tsuna!"</p><p>"Without a doubt."</p><p>"Mochida-senpai took the forfeit as a victory, huh?"</p><p>"Kyoko must be glad!"</p><p>Takeshi glanced around for Kyoko to see her fuming, being held back by two upperclassmen. Hana looked a little pissed too, but her glare was only on Mochida.</p><p>Said kendoist, still celebrating, yelled, "Kyoko is mine!!"</p><p>"So it's like that, huh?" Takeshi said to no one in particular, walking over to Kyoko and her guards. He put his hands on the two girls and gave them a friendly smile. "Kyoko-chan, how's it going? New friends?"</p><p>"Takeshi-kun," Kyoko gave him a smile. She pulled her arm forward one more time to test. No give. "Not even to say hello?" She frowned at their senpais.</p><p>One of the girls laughed. "We're just making sure you don't go beat up Mochida-kun for being an idiot."</p><p>"Even if he's being stupid, he's still our classmate, you know."</p><p>"And, this is really funny." The two girls laughed, pointing at Mochida.</p><p>Now that Takeshi thought about it, Mochida had been celebrating for a while now. His classmates were having a laugh at his expense, it seemed. </p><p>Takeshi laughed along with them. "He does look funny after a while, doesn't he?"</p><p>"Right!?"</p><p>"You get it!"</p><p>"Kyoko-chan isn't the sort of person to ruin a joke," Takeshi added. "She doesn't know when to laugh sometimes, but she's a nice girl."</p><p>One of the girls looked at him dubiously, but the other let go without qualm. "Is that so? There's no need to restrain her then. Let's go with the others instead," she elbowed the other, "they're having way more fun over there."</p><p>"S-sure!" The girl let Kyoko go hesitantly. When Kyoko didn't run away immediately, she smiled more confidently and ran toward her classmates too. "It's up to you to keep the joke going, our beloved prize!"</p><p>Takeshi watched them leave, before turning to Kyoko. "Mochida-senpai is still celebrating. If you want, you could leave the dojo and no one would notice."</p><p>"That's exactly what we should do," Hana joined the conversation, putting a hand on Kyoko's shoulder. "Even if it's his classmates making fun of him, Mochida's still a jerk."</p><p>"Well," Kyoko said tentatively, "I definitely don't like Mochida-senpai calling me a prize." Hana nodded along. "If only Tsuna-kun could beat him at kendo instead, this would be much easier. I really don't want to ruin the joke, after all."</p><p>Kyoko pondered her predicament while Hana shook her shoulders gently. </p><p>"You're being too nice!"</p><p>"Hahaha, as long as it's your own choice," Takeshi agreed with Kyoko, settling with watching Mochida's victory dance. It really was funny after a while, he just wasn't stopping.</p><p>"uuw<b>wooooOOOOOOOO</b> <b> <em>OOHH</em> </b>!"</p><p>Along with everyone else, Takeshi turned to stare at the person screaming so loudly. It was Tsuna, at the dojo's entrance. Back from the bathroom.</p><p>"<b>READY? BATTLE!</b>"</p><p><em> He really was just going to the bathroom then, </em> Takeshi thought.</p><p>"Whoa!"</p><p>"You pervert!"</p><p>A few girls in the crowd screamed and covered their eyes. Takeshi realized Tsuna was only wearing his boxers. Maybe he just felt more comfortable without his clothes on? His school uniform <em> was </em>a little big on him. Surely Tsuna would grow into it.</p><p>"<b>UWOOOOH!</b>" Tsuna ran past the kendoist struggling to hold his armor and straight into the ring. Still nothing on him but boxers. </p><p>"Hahahaha! ONly an idiot would run in naked!" Mochida laughed, finally through with his dance. "Did you think I'd hold back!?" He raised his shinai above his head, "Eat this, you pleb," and swung down!</p><p>The shinai hit! Directly on Tsuna's forehead!</p><p>But instead of going down, Tsuna kept moving forward. The shinai broke in half when it hit Mochida's head, cracking under the pressure between a rock and a hard head. Mochida went down.</p><p>Tsuna grunted and jumped forward, landing on Mochida's gut. </p><p>"Mount position?"</p><p>"What's he planning?"</p><p>Tsuna raised his arm above his head, the dangerous glint in his eyes shining furiously.</p><p>"It's a chop."</p><p>"He's going to hit a *men!"</p><p>"<b>UWOOOHHHH!</b>"</p><p>Takeshi did not hear a hit. He heard a tear. He gaped at Tsuna, now holding a handful of Mochida's hair. </p><p>"<b>I GOT *HYAKU-PON!!!</b>"</p><p>"Pfft," Takeshi raised a hand to his mouth, not wanting to be the only one laughing at Mochida's misfortune. Thankfully, he wasn't alone.</p><p>"Smart move, Tsuna," a laughing figure in the crowd cheered.</p><p>"He never specified what you had to get ippon of!"</p><p>Tsuna raised his fistful of hyaku-pon to the referee, who was too shocked at his captain's loss to speak coherently. </p><p>"<b>DAMMIT</b>," Tsuna cursed, turning to Mochida's head once again. </p><p>Takeshi continued snickering even as the rest of the crowd began to gape in horror. Mochida's bald head finally landed on the floor, reflecting the dojo's light cleanly, tears running down his cheeks.</p><p>"<b>ZENBU-PON!</b>"</p><p>"RED!" The referee cried. </p><p>Takeshi was still laughing at the puns when his classmates started running toward Tsuna. </p><p>"That was amazing! You actually won?!"</p><p>That was pretty incredible, Takeshi thought, but even Tsuna couldn't lose at everything, right? He went to join his classmates in the sidelines. </p><p>"Good one, Tsuna," he congratulated through his cupped hands, a voice lost among the others. </p><p>Tsuna looked flabbergasted by the sudden attention, but he didn't seem to hate it. As nice as it was to bask in his classmate's victory, the crowd slowly started moving away and out of the dojo, many baseball players among it. A group of said players called Takeshi over to join them on a trek to their first class.</p><p>"I'm sorry for getting scared and running away yesterday!" Takeshi overheard Kyoko as he headed toward the group. Tsuna was too busy talking to her to pay everyone else attention, and even their classmates were heading out. The crowd slowly became smaller and smaller, the name "Tsuna" on everyone's lips.</p><p>"You're incredible," Kyoko kept talking, fading away slowly. "Like, you're not some average guy!"</p><p>Well, he was certainly less useless than everyone had thought.</p><p> </p><h2>
  <b>Practice practice practice!</b>
</h2><p>Takeshi heard there was going to be a volleyball tournament. Normally, he'd go support his school if he had nothing better to do, but he had something better to do. Baseball practice.</p><p>It used to be calming, having the whole team leaning on him. He wanted to be great at baseball. If he was great, his team was too. They could all be great together because even when the others were failing, Takeshi was succeeding, and it made everyone else feel safe. </p><p>It was mutual. Takeshi gave them all a safety net, and they did their best cheering for him and getting better. It was mutual.</p><p>Takeshi was alone practicing, the rest of the team having gone to the volleyball game to watch Tsuna be cool again. There was no practice today, no one was required to come, but Takeshi felt a little lonely, pitching at an empty home plate. </p><p><em> That hole there, </em> he thought, windup lasting just a second longer than it had to before throwing the ball a breakneck speed. That hole there, in the fence, remained completely unscathed by his throw. The ball hit the fence a foot away from its target.</p><p>He let out a sigh, relaxing his body despite feeling tenser than ever. He stared at the home plate and saw himself, just yesterday. A teammate's fastball sent his way, never too fast for him, the least elusive of pitches. </p><p>It had been the first of five strikes that day, the 53rd of the month.</p><p>His average was falling. </p><p>For the first time in a long time, he struck out.</p><p>On the field, his catches were catching nothing and his throws had stopped beelining toward his teammates' mitts. </p><p>He couldn't play, and the rest of the team could probably see it. His average was falling to average levels, their safety net becoming untangled.</p><p><em> "It's just a bad week," </em>his coach said.</p><p><em> Month, </em>Takeshi had corrected silently.</p><p><em> "You'll get over it, Yamamoto. How could a baseball freak like you suddenly lose his skill," </em>he laughed at the mere thought.</p><p>Almost automatically, someone had cheered, <em> "Hail the baseball freak!" </em></p><p>"I've lost it," Takeshi whispered, looking at his hand. The stress tensing his muscles more than they should've been. He'd been throwing for too long, he felt like an overworked pitcher after a long game. Maybe he'd even thrown more than his pitchers usually did. </p><p>He walked toward the fence to pick up the stray baseballs, ready to go home, ice his shoulder, and take a break. He'd pray to whatever baseball god there was out there for this to be a phase and then dream of winning games and celebrating with his dad's sushi. </p><hr/><p>That night, he had a nightmare. </p><p>The major bits were mercifully lost to him, but he remembered a game. Of course it was a baseball game. He watched it play out from the bench, clapping occasionally. He had to give a lot of "A for effort"s and "Better luck next time"s </p><p>"FIGHT!"</p><p>From the stands, the school cheered. Even Tsuna was there, smiling at him like he knew Takeshi was everything he wasn't, but not jealous, proud. Tsuna was proud of him, and somehow, that meant something. It was the same sort of pride he knew his father felt for him as opposed to the pride his team and his coach did. What was the difference, what was the difference?</p><p>His dad offered him some sushi, from a food stand next to the bench, but before Takeshi could pick it, the coach called him to the plate. Somehow, between realizing Tsuna was there and his dad offering him sushi, the score had gone from a complete loss to a tie.</p><p>He was the last batter, the last chance for his team. If he failed this, they'd play defence next and there was no chance of winning then.</p><p>Tsuna was gone, his dad was gone, his coach was the catcher behind him, and Kyoko was pitching. Takeshi didn't think it was too weird, his coach and Kyoko on the opposite team. He just had to bat.</p><p>Strike. Strike. Strike. Out.</p><p>Strike. Strike. Strike. Out.</p><p>Strike. Strike. Strike. Out.</p><p>Strike. Strike. Strike. Out.</p><p>Strike. Strike. Strike. Out.</p><p>Strike. Strike. Strike. Out.</p><p>Strike--</p><p>Takeshi woke up to his father knocking on his bedroom door to the rhythm of the strikes. A horrible start to the day. His arm hurt, as if he'd been swinging throughout the night.</p><p>Recalling each strike from the dream, Takeshi couldn't say he hadn't been.</p><p>His dad hurried him out the door, handing him a piece of toast (a scarce breakfast for those who dare wake up late). Takeshi would have liked to talk with him about his troubles, but it could probably wait till dinner.</p><p>Class continued as usual, with little relevance to Takeshi. His mind was on baseball, as it so often was, but this was troubling him. Another session of practice after school seemed like just the right thing to get him back in the game, but so far, that tactic hadn’t worked.</p><p>“Yo, Yamamoto-kun!” a guy from the class over who sometimes ate lunch with them swung an arm around him, focing Takeshi to hunch. Being tall was sometimes a curse, but it helped in sports. “Where were you during the volleyball game?”</p><p>It took him a moment to recall if there had been a volleyball game. Oh, that’s right. </p><p>“No, I was a little busy. Did we win?”</p><p>“Did we win?”</p><p>Another boy burst out, “Tsuna beat the other team to the ground!”</p><p>They told Takeshi about the game, and how it seemed Tsuna had been dragging the team down at the beginning. </p><p>“Turns out, he just didn’t want to bully the other team. Pretty nice of him, huh?”</p><p>“He jumped so high, it was scary.”</p><p>“Yukito from class A is terrified of him! He says the rest of his classmates are too.”</p><p>“I can see where they’re coming from. But at least we know Tsuna ain’t that scary.” He said this, grabbing the two boys surrounding him by the necks, making them jump. </p><p>“He is pretty cool, don’t you think?”</p><p>“I guess he found his calling.”</p><p>“He sucks in gym class though,” Ataru said, scratching his head. “We always lose when he’s on our team.”</p><p>The others shrugged. “Maybe he’s just good at kendo and volleyball then.”</p><p>Takeshi took this all in, somewhat jealously. Here he was, already past his prime at age 14, meanwhile Tsuna was becoming such a cool person, the whole school was talking about him. He wondered if Tsuna was doing something special, maybe he’d gotten a tutor or something? </p><p>It wouldn’t hurt to ask him, right?</p><p>That day, Takeshi did just that. They were the last gym class of the day, which meant they had cleaning duty. As always, they decided who would clean by playing a game - baseball today. It weighed on Takeshi’s heart, but he tried to be happy about his favorite sport. For his crew’s morale, at least.</p><p>He also made sure dame-Tsuna was on his team, just to make it easier to talk to him about his problems. Takeshi managed to hit his classmates pitches and outrun their throws, but at the back of his mind, he could only think about how slow he was getting. The wind dragged him down as he ran, it dragged his bat when he swung. </p><p>Too slow. Too slow. Too soft. Too weak.</p><p>A mantra formed in his head, chanting pitifully. </p><p>Baseball was everything to Takeshi. He couldn’t lose it. He couldn’t. Takeshi smiled when his classmates congratulated him.</p><p>“Thanks a lot Tsuna,” they scolded Tsuna after class, giving him a broom. “It’s your fault we lost. Again. Sweep the field by yourself!”</p><p>Takeshi raised his hand as he spoke. “I’m also to blame. I was the one who asked him on our team, after all.”</p><p>“Aww, don’t blame yourself, Yamamoto-kun! It’s not your fault he’s useless.”</p><p>It seemed unfair, for some reason, watching his classmates leave Tsuna to clean the grounds by himself.</p><p><em> Probably because it really is partly my fault </em>, Takeshi thought. Good thing he needed to talk to him anyway. He grabbed a broom the boys had left behind and casually swung it over his shoulders.</p><p>“Help has arrived,” he announced, while Tsuna’s back was turned, slumped over his broom.</p><p>Tsuna jumped, stuttering at his offer. “Yamamoto-san!?” His shoulders fell. “Sorry, it’s all my fault. And just when you let me in your team…”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Takeshi shook it off, “It’s just gym.”</p><p>They swept together for a while. Tsuna seemed more energetic than before. Maybe he just didn’t like baseball? It was an offensive thought, but Takeshi couldn’t blame him. Tsuna really sucked at it. Again, he seemed to be Takeshi’s opposite. While he was good (was) at baseball, Tsuna was getting good at everything else.</p><p>He put off talking to Tsuna for a while. Maybe he should just get advice from his father. Dad always knew what to do, after all. Well, almost always. He had good advice, anyway. </p><p>It was a little humiliating. But Takeshi was rather stubborn.</p><p>“Hey,” he started quietly, immediately garnering Tsuna’s attention, “can I ask you something?”</p><p>“Huh? Me?” </p><p>“Well, yeah. You see,” Takeshi struggled for a second, “the truth is, I wanted to get a moment with you from the start. I have this problem. Do you think you can help?”</p><p>Tsuna gaped. “You-you want <em> my </em> help?”</p><p>Takeshi gave him a meek grin. “Well, you have been pretty amazing, haven’t you? I saw your kendo match with Mochida-senpai, and I heard about your volleyball match. By comparison, all I know is baseball.”</p><p>“What-” Tsuna was pretty useless at talking too, Takeshi noticed. “What are you saying? It’s your baseball skill that’s amazing!” </p><p>Takeshi faltered. “It’s not going that well.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Takeshi explained his problems to the boy, his lower average, his loss of speed. He didn’t know how to explain that rather than failing, he felt he was falling (kind of like a penguin that wanted to fly. Takeshi wasn’t a penguin). Tsuna seemed to understand the importance, however. It was nice to be taken seriously, especially after his coach’s less than satisfying answer to Takeshi’s concerns.</p><p>“Tsuna, what should I do?”</p><p>Tsuna seemed unsure for a short second, but he nodded (to himself or to Takeshi) and said, “Well, I guess- I think effort is the most important thing. I guess.”</p><p>Takeshi’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Right? I was thinking the same thing!”</p><p>“Yeah,” Tsuna rubbed his nose, “you can’t be perfect until you’ve tried your hardest, I always say.”</p><p>Takeshi slapped his back with gratitude, swinging his arm around his shoulders.  “Thanks, Sawada-kun. I knew it just had to be that I wasn’t practicing enough! It’s decided! Today I’m staying after school and practicing like hell!”</p><p>His classmate flushed and beamed.</p><p>When they finished picking up, Takeshi stayed after school. This time, he took out the ball launcher. He tried avoiding this when he was alone, mostly because it was a pain to pick up all the baseballs after practice and his teammates were already just as good at throwing as other school’s pitchers. The machine wasn’t much better at aiming for random spots, but it was definitely faster than his teammates'.</p><p><em> All I have to do </em> , Takeshi thought to himself, readying his bat, <em> is hit every ball. </em></p><p>Inspired by Tsuna's confidence, Takeshi hit the first three shots without fail. He laughed out loud, already feeling better for it. He just needed harder practice! Of course!</p><p>Time passed smoothly. It would be a while before Hibari started patrolling the grounds to beat students out of the school, he had time to get better. Nearby, the soccer team was practicing.</p><p>Yet he felt himself wear out, so much faster than he should have. Takeshi huffed in annoyance, forcing his arms to stop shaking. Forcing his eyes to watch the ball. Forcing the bat to move faster, harder. </p><p>He was breathing hard, he could hear it. </p><p>Just practice harder.</p><p>He just had to practice harder. Takeshi glared at the machine, hitting the next ball. It landed to the side, almost a foul. </p><p>He clenched his hands, feeling the muscles in his arms tense. That hadn’t been on purpose, it hadn’t happened in so long. He was so used to home runs, what was this?!</p><p>He remained frozen, staring at the near foul with tense shoulders. Then the machine punctured the air. Takeshi had almost forgotten. He forced himself to swing automatically, but his arm hadn’t completely received the memo. It jolted instead of swung. Takeshi didn’t pay the movement any mind, focused on hitting the surprise ball. </p><p>The bat hit the ball and his shoulder <em> snapped </em>.</p><p>“AUGH!” </p><p>Takeshi grabbed the popped shoulder, dropping the baseball bat on the ground. No, no no no no-</p><p>It wasn’t in place, how could he practice with his shoulder like this? He thought about willing his arm to grab the bat again. He tried, but it was such a faraway thing, the pain too much- His hand was right there, but the bat was too heavy, the bat was never too heavy. </p><p>The machine boomed. The ball hit the fence behind him,</p><p>Takeshi stepped away from the plate.</p><p>“Excuse me, are you okay?”</p><p>“Oooii…”</p><p>“Yamamoto-kun?”</p><p>“Hey, I think he’s hurt.”</p><p>“Someone get the teacher!”</p><p>He apologized to his doctor for being such a burden, and to his father for worrying him. By the time they were home again, Takeshi’s arm was in a sling. He could not play baseball.</p><p>Then what was he good for?</p><p> </p><h2>
  <b>No one’s a failure until they stop trying</b>
</h2><p>“Yamamoto, don’t do it!” </p><p>A crowd had gathered in the rooftops.</p><p>“This joke has gone too far,” someone else said. </p><p>“It’s not funny.”</p><p>Takeshi apologized. “It’s not a joke. I’ve got nothing left now that the baseball god has thrown me away.”</p><p>“Oh my god, he’s serious!”</p><p>“Someone, stop him!”</p><p>Takeshi leaned forward, his good hand still holding the fence. It creaked dangerously under the pressure.</p><p>“The fence is too rusty, it might fall apart at any moment!”</p><p>Among the yells of despair going his way, one reached his ears rather easily. It was more of a whine. “PLEASE STOP!”.</p><p>Takeshi turned, finding a familiar brunet on the ground, apart from the rest of the class. </p><p>“Tsuna…”</p><p>Tsuna fumbled for his words. Takeshi spared him the effort. “If you came to stop me, it’s no use. You of all people should be able to understand my feelings.”</p><p>“Wha-?”</p><p>“For someone who gets called No-Good-Tsuna all the time, you should be able to understand this, right? How I’d rather die instead of fail at everything.”</p><p>“Hah? I-I, uh,” a pause, “No...You and I are completely different, so…”</p><p>Oh, yeah. Like he wasn’t still failing class with grades rivaling Takeshi’s. Like he hadn’t lost them the baseball game last afternoon. Like he wasn’t still completely failing at using his own words.</p><p>“How arrogant.” Takeshi glared, taking a step forward to better face Tsuna. “You’ve been so awesome lately, you must be a <em> fine </em>student now, compared to someone like me.”</p><p>Tsuna swung his arms forward, shouting, “N-no! That’s not it at all! It’s not because I’m- It’s. It’s because I actually am no good!” </p><p>Takeshi stared. </p><p>“Unlike you, I’ve never put any effort into a single thing,” Tsuna added quickly, his words coming too fast for him to stumble over. “I arrogantly told you to put in more effort when I’ve never done anything worthwhile.” He bowed, closing his eyes. “What I said yesterday was a lie. I’m so sorry!”</p><p>This didn’t make sense. So, what? Tsuna was just good at things now, without even trying? Wasn’t he just bragging some more? Was he blaming himself and trying to apologize before Takeshi jumped? </p><p>He continued. “Saying that you’re so frustrated that you want to die over a career ending injury, saying that you’d rather die at all...unlike you, I’ve never had intense thoughts like those.”</p><p>Good for him.</p><p> “In fact, I’m a pathetic person who would die with regrets and think as I’m dying that I should’ve done something about them with my dying will, feeling like I’d wasted the time I’d had…”</p><p>With regrets.</p><p>“So, I can’t understand your feelings...sorry,” Tsuna said.</p><p>Tsuna would die feeling he’d wasted his life, huh. Would Takeshi...was Takeshi wasting something here too?</p><p>“Later!” Tsuna shouted, turning 180 degrees and beginning to march away. </p><p>Hadn’t Tsuna put <em> some </em> effort to tell Takeshi all this? It had to mean something, what did he mean? “Wait, Tsuna-”</p><p>Takeshi reached out to grab the boy before he left, catching his right sleeve and pulling back-</p><p>Tsuna fell back.</p><p>Hit the fence.</p><p>The fence broke.</p><p>They both fell over the edge.</p><p>“WHA-GYAAA”</p><p>“UWAAHH-”</p><p>The wind roared in his ears. He couldn’t see the floor getting closer, but he could feel it. Instead, what he saw was Tsuna, terrified, falling above him. He’d dragged him down.</p><p>He had regrets.</p><p>He could have helped his father with the restaurant. He could have made a couple of friends, real friends who didn’t just cheer for him because he was good at baseball. It was too late, wasn’t it? Too late, he was going to die, and the last face he’d ever see was the one person who was worse at everything than him. </p><p>He wished he hadn’t dragged Tsuna down with him.</p><p>“<b>MID-AIR REBORN!” </b>Huh?</p><p>Tsuna...was running down the walls now. And getting closer. </p><p>“<b>SAVE YAMAMOTO WITH MY DYING WILL!!!”</b></p><p>“Tsuna?!” Takeshi felt Tsuna’s arms around him, felt themselves fall just a bit slower, but-</p><p>“<b>SHIT. CAN’T STOP!!”</b></p><p>Tsuna cursed again. “Wha,” Takeshi bit his tongue, perspective changing wildly as they turned midair. “Tsuna?” Tsuna was under him now. What was going on? Was that a gun shot? Everything was happening so fast, no sense-</p><p>“<b>IT- ITCHES- MY- TSUMOJI!!!”</b></p><p>Tsuna hit the ground—Takeshi felt it, but it felt like nothing—and then they <em> bounced. </em>He watched the exact location Tsuna had landed on zoom away as they were flung to the side. And when Takeshi finally did feel the ground, he was safe. They both...were?</p><p>There was smoke coming out of Tsuna’s forehead.</p><p>“Yamamoto, are you okay?” Tsuna asked frantically.</p><p>“Tsuna!” Takeshi let himself relax, exhausted. The smoke was gone now, a small piece of metal had fallen to the side. “You’re amazing!” </p><p>Tsuna had said they were nothing alike, but Takeshi knew better.</p><p>“Eh?”</p><p>“Just like you said. Gotta do it with a dying will.” </p><p>If Tsuna could save him with his dying will, Takeshi could have- No, Takeshi still could. All thanks to Tsuna, he still could. What he had been missing hadn’t been effort. It had been willpower. </p><p>This was a little embarrassing, so Takeshi laughed and scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Nothing good comes from my idiocy.”</p><p>“Yamamoto…” Tsuna smiled back at  him.</p><p>Once he’d calmed down, he looked up to the rooftop to see if anyone was still there. Only Kyoko. She caught his gaze and waved, before walking off. No one else was there, probably off to class. </p><p>He took a closer look at his life saver, meaning to ask if they should head back to class now. Instead, he asked, “Tsuna...when did you take off your uniform?”</p><p>“Huh? HIIIII-” Tsuna made a funny teapot sound and ran for it, covering his face and chest. Takeshi grinned at his fading figure, chuckling to himself for good measure.</p><p>Instead of heading to homeroom, he leaned back and flopped, gazing at the passing clouds. Dying will, was it? Was that how Tsuna saved them?</p><p>He’d only seen it for a moment, but on Tsuna’s forehead had been an orange flame. </p><p>
  <em> “SAVE YAMAMOTO WITH MY DYING WILL!!!” </em>
</p><p>His lips twitched into a smile. His heart and his throat joined forces to make this an uncomfortably joyful moment. Tsuna’s last thought had been Takeshi. He sort of owed him his life. No, he totally owed him his life!</p><p>Takeshi wasn’t much like those samurai characters he saw in anime, he didn’t feel so indebted to Tsuna that he wanted to become his servant. However, it would be weird if he couldn’t call Tsuna his friend from that day on, right? </p><p>Not like his teammates, or like the ever changing group of students he had lunch with. More like...more like Hana and Kyoko!</p><p>He snickered to himself, wiping his blurry eyes. Did that make Tsuna the Hana? It was such a funny thought, tears started steaming down his cheeks, tickling his ears.</p><p>He sat up. Huh. It hadn’t been <em> that </em> funny. Takeshi took a deep breath before standing up, a bit difficult with only one arm to his disposal. </p><p>He’d almost jumped. He still fell, but it felt better than jumping. Class had already started, and he didn’t feel like going.</p><p>He should go hug his dad.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is supposed to be the first chapter? But I think it also makes a fine enough one-shot.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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